View full sizeLilla Frederick (5), playing with Kim Hill, and Summer Ross, playing with Caitlin Racich, meet at the net in an all-Pepperdine semifinal match in the American Volleyball Coaches Association Collegiate Sand Volleyball national pairs championship tournament on April 29, 2012, in Gulf Shores. All of the players except Ross are back for this yearâs tournament,

That double goes double for Caitlin Racich. She played for the winning Pepperdine team last year, then won the national pairs championship the next day.

"We're going for it," Racich said of another two-title trip to Pleasure Island.

Pepperdine is 18-0 in dual matches this season and seeded No. 1 for the six-team tournament, which starts at 9 this morning on the public beach at the foot of Alabama Highway 59.

"Last year was tremendous being the first AVCA Collegiate Sand national champion," Pepperdine coach Nina Matthies said. "That was really exciting. To be fortunate enough to be back here again and in a position, we hope, to re-create last year's championship, we're really excited.

"This team has worked tremendously hard, and we've done our job all through the season. We haven't lost a match in two years. As an athlete, you're always anticipatory of what's going to happen and you're always anxious. I think we've prepared well. We're not cocky in what we're doing, but if you prepare and you're confident in your preparation, then all you can do is let everybody play and let the chips fall where they may.

"Pepperdine is very serious about sand volleyball, and we've been putting in lots and lots of hours."

Long Beach State, which the Waves defeated in last year's finals, is seeded second. Florida State is seeded third, Southern Cal fourth, North Florida fifth and Louisiana-Monroe sixth.

In team play, schools meet in a five-match competition, with the No. 1 through No. 5 duos of each squaring off.

To win in that setup, Racich said, requires, "a really strong and a deep team. It's really important that each pair have great chemistry and play well together."

Florida International coach Rita Buck-Crockett said the team that pushes past Pepperdine in either the team or pairs tournament would have to play to a high standard.

"Everyone that is here is the best of the best," she said. "Everyone is going to be good. It's going to take those teams that are consistent and play with confidence to get down to the wire."

Buck-Crockett is not here with a full team. She had two pairs selected for the tournament that will decide the nation's championship sand-volleyball duo. That competition begins at 11 a.m. today and will end on Sunday. The team tournament champion will be crowned on Saturday.

Ten duos deemed the best in the nation but who are not involved in the team competition will take part in pool play beginning today for four spots in the pairs tournament.

The No. 1 duos from the six schools in the team competition automatically have berths in the pairs tournament, as do the No. 2 duos from the schools that make the semifinals of the team tourney. Play-in matches involving the No. 3 pool finishers and the No. 2 duos from the other two team schools will set the final field for the pairs tournament.

Racich won the pairs tournament last year playing with Summer Ross, who has graduated. This year, she'll attempt to defend her crown while playing with Lara Dykstra.

Racich said it really does take two to win an individual championship in sand volleyball.

"You need a really good partnership with your partner - you need to be able to communicate well," Racich said. "You need to play off each other's strengths and weaknesses and play as a team."

Matthies said a good sand volleyball pair needs to "be very athletic and have worked very hard and put lots of hours in in the weight room and lots of hours in in the sand. It comes with the training for any sport: You have to put the time in to get the results out."

Last year, Racich and Ross defeated Pepperdine teammates Lilla Frederick and Kim Hill in the semifinals of the pairs tournament. Frederick and Hill are back this year, and they're the Waves' No. 1 duo with a 27-0 record in 2013.

Racich said facing off against teammates in the tournament can be uncomfortable.

"We're all competitive out there," she said. "We fight and want to win. But you respect your teammates. You just play a good solid game and that's about all you can do. Kind of an interesting situation, but it happens."

Florida International and UCLA have two tandems apiece entered in the pool-play portion of the pairs tournament. Other schools sending a duo to the tourney are Georgia State, Jacksonville, Loyola Marymount, Pacific, St. Mary's and UAB.

For FIU, the pairs of Kate Stepanova/Ksenia Sukhareva and Jessica Mendoza/Maryna Samoday will be in action today.

Buck-Crockett said she would tell her players to "enjoy the season that they've had and to keep their dream going to the very end. If they can look at themselves in the mirror when they're done, they'll either be champions or they will have done the best that they could."

The schedule for the AVCA Collegiate Sand Volleyball national championships in Gulf Shores: